What went down on Valentine's Day/Night

- Pepper Lunch at the Shang with my singleton girls, C. and E. Lunch was on E. as she just got her hands on her fat and juicy paycheck (Thanks heaps!!!). Was happy to finally have Beef Pepper Rice again after what seemed like an eternity (the last time I was at Pepper Lunch on George Street was WYD last year).

- We joined a Body Shop makeup competition thingo. The girls conspired to orchestrate this very convoluted plan to get me to Glorietta on the pretext of "meeting with another friend", but the long and short of it is that they have previously signed me up to become a model (here's the part where I shudder repeatedly) for the makeup contest. It was too late to bail my sorry ass out and so I just went along with the plan, like the very good sport that I was (hehe). We were made to wear Myphosis dresses (which they later took back) and heels (I came totally unprepared so I had to borrow a pair off someone). We each drew lots to work out which makeup artist would do our faces. These professional makeup people were tasked "to bring out our natural beauty" (yes, that was the major criterion of the contest...which is ironic really, considering it was a makeup competition). I ended up with I., who was extremely sweet. She was quite meticulous with details and that really served her in good stead - she made it to the Top 13 at the end of the competition (the 13 stylists will all move on to the next round). I find this unbelievable still as I did the WORST catwalk walk among the girls. Also, I nearly tripped going up the stage, my shoe almost fell off and I exited the wrong way. Que disastro. Good thing it was a makeup competition and not a modelling one. I still reckon I looked uglier post-makeup than pre-makeup (not because I. did a lousy job, but more than cosmetics, it's a facelift I need), but I'm exceedingly thankful the judges gave I. the chance to advance to the next stage. I really wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if she got cut off the list. At the end of the competition all of the models (I am retro-cringing as I say that again) were given Body Shop freebies. The blush and the eye shadow are truly gorgeous. The organisers were consistent with the V-Day theme as there was a Mallrats-type dating contest thing going on whilst the judges were tallying up the scores. The whole time I was telling myself that I was better off being part of the makeup contest as the levels of public humiliation involved were far less. I truly felt for the poor girls on stage (searchees, they are called), as they were subjected to the agony of answering a bunch of very ridiculous questions and doing bloody embarrassing noontime show stuff like singing and dancing.

- Quickly popped by Eastwood to meet with T., one of my closest friends from Oz who I haven't seen in nearly half a year. She's now back in Sydney and I was so happy to have hung out with her, even for just half an hour.

- UP Fair. As usual, I didn't even attempt to enter the fair grounds. What's the point anyways, the queues were impossibly long and there is always that looming risk of getting embroiled in another bloody riot. We met up with the boys (D. & A.) and decided to hang at Sarah's instead and have a few drinkies. There was a bohemian poetry reading thingo going on at Sarah's and it was quite packed. We grabbed a few bottles of Red Horse and I finally (FINALLY!) got meself a Happy Horse (five hundred beers too late!). The beers were warm as piss but the night was happy and I was with awesome company so it was all good. I was out for fifteen hours that day and I was so wrecked when I got home but I couldn't help but think it was such a mad way to spend Valentine's.